Size and alignment control means



A ril 21, 1959 R. E. PRICE ET AL SIZE AND ALIGNMENT CONTROL MEANS sSheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 18, 1954 INVENTOR RALPH 5, PRICE BY C485 F.Hup

April 21, 1959 Filed NOV. 18, 1954 R. E. PRICE ETAL 2,882,650

SIZE AND ALIGNMENT CONTROL MEANS 5 Shets-Sheet 2 IINVENTOR RALPH, EPRICETTORN EY April 1959 -R. E. PRICE ETAL 2,882,650

SIZE AND ALIGNMENT CONTROL MEANS Filed Nov. 18, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 wINVENTOR mm E. @PIcE BY cf? J F", #0 20 surfaces. wheels do notwearuniformly there is a constant tendency 'SIZE AND ALIGNMENT CONTROL"MEANS -:Ralph E. Price, Beloit, and Cass F. EHurc, Janesville, 'Wis.,

' assignors to Gardner. Machine Company sBeloit, '-Wis.,

-a-corporation of Illinois This invention relates to disk grinderswherein both .sides of a flat Work piece areground. bypassing the work;,piece between opposed annular faces of twoabrasive disks.

'Work pieces passing between abrasive disks are re- ;ceived at the .exitend thereof by spaced guide surfaces .which are. in alignment with. saidannular abrasive sur- "faces. 'Since no two abrasive surfaces .wearatthesame rate, there is a problem involved in maintaining alignment.between said abrasive surfaces and sa1d guide sur- .'j;'faces. Wear onthe abrasive disks is reflected'in the width of. the work piece emergingfrom between the disks andalso by the path of the work relative to itheguide Since thegguide surfaces are fixed and since .the

for'one or 'both of the'wheel surfaces to wear in such a manner thatthey are. no longerin alignment with the-v guide surfaces. Furthermore,'one of said-surfaces may be more out "of .alignmentihan the .other.

. vIt .is therefore an object of this invention v,.to. ,pr.ovidemeans'whereby alignment between opposed grinding. disks and work guidesurfaces may be maintained.

.Afurther object is to provide gauging meansapplicable Ito oppositesidesof a work pieceso' that. any changein the position of the surface of thework piece as it emerges from the grinding wheels will reflect theamount of wear on the respective wheels.

Another object is to provide means responsive to said gauges foradjusting each of the grinding wheels independently to correct anychange in position of the finished work surfaces by adjusting each ofthe Wheels by the amount of such change.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a horizontal doubledisk grinder.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view partly in section of a portion of thegauging device showing the adjustable mounting thereof.

Figure 3 is a diagram of the wheel feeding means and the controlstherefor.

Numeral indicates the bed of the machine. Grinding wheel supports 11 and12 are slidably mounted thereon for axial movement toward and away fromone another. In this view the grinding wheels 13 and 14 are enclosed bysuitable guards through which an opening may be provided to introducework pieces such as piston rings, into the space between said wheels.Means for conducting such work pieces through the grinding zone isdisclosed in Patent 2,657,504, granted November 3, 1953.

The means for feeding said wheel supports axially toward and from oneanother is disclosed more or less diagrammatically in Figure 3. Only oneof these means is shown in detail since the feeding mechanism for bothwheels is substantially identical. This feeding mechanism consists of afeed screw rotatably mounted in a suitable manner in bed 10 andoperatively engaging a nut 21 in wheel support 11. One end of said feedscrew extends into a housing 22 and has a gear 23 mounted thereon. Saidgear 23 is in operative engagement with a gear 24 on ...Uni.ted StatesPatent 0 2,882,650 Patented Apr. 2.1 "F1959 ice iffhand wheel shaft'25..Said shaft may be rotatedmanual- Lly 'byhand wheel26orautomaticallyby.meansWof a ratchet whe'elf'27 onsha'ft125. .A pawl,28.on arrnj29; is :.rotatably.mounted also on .shaft.25. Arm.,29..is-.c,on- .nected throug'hfllinkfitl. to a piston rod '31attachedto. a piston '32 slidably mounted in cylinder.33. ,Saidpiston.may beactuated downwardly by .fiuidunderpressureand upwardly by aspring 35. A throttle valve 34..ser.ves.:as an adjustable restrictiontocontroljthe rate of movement of piston .32 so that said piston need,nottravelits .com-

, vpletestroke instantly. .Il'1-lihlS 'd6VlCe the ratchet wheel 27.,isactuated by pawl '28 on.the. downward stroke-.lof

piston '32.

sociatecl parts will .be. described in .detail.

' The'air which emerges ffromnozzle .43against the work .surface issupplied throug'hflline 45 from a .unit 461.com- .s'istingofapressure-operated element 48 which. maybe a bellows or a diaphragm. Said.unit .haselectrical. contacts 47 which ..are, actuated .by a.suitab.lechange in air pressure vinresponse to achangeiin the. surface oflthe.work pieceto energize .a solenoid .50. Said solenoid. is

connected to avalve 51 whichit shifts againstspring52. to direct fluidfrom ,purnp 53= .throug'h .lines .54 vand.;55..a nd

throttle valve ,56 to theupperend of cylinder 33.

Guide surfaces .40 .and 41 are ,monntedin adjustable .slidesitill andfilsuitably mounted .on bed,10. Said .guide .su'rfacesmay' be adjustedv.in setting up..the machine,",by adjusting screws .62 and 63 which maybe rotatedmanualfly by'kno'bs-,64.-and.65.

Nozzles 42 and '43 aresupported .onparallel .leafsprings 70 and 71 whichin turn are mounted on slide members 72 and 73. Said slide members areslidably mounted on guide supporting slides 60 and 61 and adjustedthereon by screws and knobs 74 and 75. Said screws are operativelymounted in split nuts 81 having clamping screws 82 for locking screws 80and therefore the corresponding nozzle in adjusted position.

Work W may be passed through the space between abrasive discs 13 and 14by any suitable carrier means. The opposed surfaces of said discs areoriginally positioned in alignment with the surfaces of the guidemembers 40 and 41. As the work emerges from the grinding discs, itpasses between air nozzles 42 and 43 which direct a flow of air againstthe workpiece. If the wear is uniform on both grinding discs, theemerging workpiece will eventually be oversize to the point that it willreduce the flow of air from each of said nozzles. This reduction of flowwill be effective to actuate the feed piston 32 to shift the Wheel 15,and the corresponding feed piston (not shown) for actuating disc 14. Ifone of the discs wears more rapidly than the other, the one surface ofthe workpiece, as it emerges from the grinding position, will be closerto the corresponding nozzle than the other. The reduced flow from saidnozzle will result in actuating the associated feed mechanism tocompensate for wear on the wheel so that succeeding workpieces will passboth nozzles at the same distance. Another result of nonuniformity ofwear of grinding discs is that the space between the discs gets out ofalignment with the guide members 40 and 41. As indicated above, this outof alignment will cause a corresponding actuation of the feed mechanismto the proper disc to restore the condition of alignment. Thus theinvention performs a dual function, maintaining correct size of work andalso correct alignment between discs and guide members.

. We claim:

1. In a machine for grinding opposed parallel surfaces of a workpiece, abed, a pair of wheel supporting means slidably mounted for axialmovement on said bed, a

.grinding wheel rotatably mounted on eachof said supporting means inaxially opposed relation to one another, means for moving saidsupporting means toward and from one another, guide means for receivinga workpiece as it passes from between said wheels, and means responsiveto'variation in the position of either surface of the workpiece inrelation to said guide means as the work- 7 passes from between thewheels for adjusting the corresponding supporting means to maintainalignment between said wheels and said .guide means.

2. In a machine for. grinding opposed parallel surfaces alignmentbetween said wheels and said guide means comprising means co-operatingwith the ground surfaces of said workpiece for determining the relativeposition of said wheel surfaces and said guide means, said co-operatingmeansvbeing responsive to any variation from a predeterminedrelationship between said ground surfaces and said guide means foractuating said wheel support moving means corresponding to saidout-of-relation work surface to restore said predetermined relationship.I

' 3. In a machine for grinding opposed parallel surfaces of a workpiece,a pair of wheel supporting means slidably mounted for axial movement, agrinding wheel rotatably mounted on each of said supporting means withits grinding surface in opposed relation to that of the other grindingwheel, means for moving said supporting means toward and from oneanother, guide means for receiving the work as it passes from betweenthe wheels, and means responsive to variation in position of eithersurface of the workpiece in relation to said guide means as the workpasses from between the wheels for adjusting said wheel supporting meanscorresponding to the out-of-position f4 work surface to restorealignment between said wheel and said guide means.

4. In a machine for grinding opposed parallel surfaces of a workpiece, abed, a pair of wheel supporting means slidably mounted for axialmovement, a grinding wheel rotatably mounted on each of said supportingmeans in axially opposed relation to one another, means for moving saidsupporting means, guide means for receiving the ground-workpiece as itpasses from between the wheels and means for maintaining substantiallyexact alignment between said wheels and said guide means. comprisingseparate means co-operating with each of the ground surfaces of saidworkpiece for determining the relative position of said wheel surfacesand said guide means, said co-operating means being responsive to anyvariation from a predetermined relationship between said ground surfacesand said guide means to actuate said wheel support moving meanscorresponding to the out-of-position worksurface to restore saidpredetermined relationship.

5. A machine for grinding opposed parallel surfaces of a workpiece, apair of wheel supporting means slidably mounted for axial movement, agrinding wheel rotatably mounted oneach of said-supporting means inaxially opposed relation to one another, means for moving saidsupporting means toward and from one another, guide means for receivingthe work as it passes from between the wheels and separate gauge meansinoperative relation to each of said opposed surfaces of the workpiece fordetermining the position of said surfaces relative to said 'guide meansas the work passes from between the wheels,

.the corresponding wheel supporting means to restore alignment betweensaid wheels. and said guide means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

